This invention generally relates to a learning system and method for engaging in incentive based learning sessions and more particularly to incentive based learning system and method that is implemented over a network.
Conventionally, many educational systems try to personalize learning sessions for students and avoid the cost of employing private tutors by using computer programs in place of actual teachers. In these systems, however, valid concerns have been raised by educators and parents as to whether students are given enough incentives to continue to strive to meet their processes in place to continue motivating students in their educational endeavors. In few systems that have incentive awarding processes in place, incentives given are not readily redeemable for actual goods and consequently renders the overall incentive scheme ineffective.
For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,947,747 issued to Walker et al. discloses a system allowing a parentally-controlled reward system where a child who reaches specified objectives can claim an award that his or her parent are confident was fairly and honestly earned without the parents being required to proctor tests. A reward threshold is stored in a database storage device and if appropriate, a reward attainment message is included in performance indication provided to the test-taker over the phone. The parent could then use the reward attainment message to provide a designated reward to the test-taker.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,743 issued to Ho et al. discloses a system to help a student to focus on study materials on a computer by restricting the student from enjoying entertainment materials on the computer. The restriction in the access filter can be removed under a predetermined condition, such as the amount of time the student has been working on the study materials, the student""s performance in the study material, and the time of day.
Each of the above-discussed conventional systems, however, fails to deliver redeemable incentive tokens to students. Hence, there is a lack of an efficient system for awarding students with redeemable incentive tokens.
There has been a long sought desire in network-based educational systems to develop a computer-assisted educational system that award students with redeemable incentive tokens to effectively encourage students in meeting their educational goals.
Briefly, according to the present invention, a learning system includes a student station that holds a learning session for a student. An incentive controller delivers a redeemable electronic token to the student station when the student satisfies a predefined incentive criterion associated with the learning session.
According to one of the more detailed features of the present invention, the predefined incentive criterion relates to one of improvement, participation and effort during the learning session. According to another detailed feature, the redeemable electronic token is redeemable at a third party vendor web-site. In one exemplary embodiment, the token balance information is automatically transferred to the third party vendor web-site. Also, the number of redeemable electronic tokens delivered to a student is stored in a student""s profile.